Public Health & Cities: Are Cities Detrimental to One’s Health?
Megacities around the world have been expanding exponentially due the attractiveness of their vibrant lifestyles, picturesque skyscrapers, and vast opportunities for business. The life in the city can be attributed with glittering success and abundance of activities and opportunities. By immersing into the hustling environment, people tend to have more stressful and strenuous lifestyle. Many researchers and public health experts are speculating that the busyness and exposure in the city lifestyle can be detrimental to city dwellers’ health. The stressfulness can culminate in diseases, mental disorder, and health problems. Air pollution, long commutes, and people’s mental health will be the focal problems addressed in the assignment.
Air pollution has been a pressing concern for many cities since the inception of the Industrial Revolution in both Britain and the United States. Urban air quality worsened as coal and manufacturing factories permeated the countries. Both Britain and the United States tried to create tangible laws to mitigate the air pollution, however the early laws were weak and unsuccessful. To this day, legislators and environmentalists are working tirelessly to implement laws to reduce the world’s carbon footprint. Air pollution is currently one of the biggest environmental problems and it stems in various forms such as smoke from coal factories, cars emitting carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon, and natural causes like volcano eruptions and forest fires. Most of human activities are the main culprit of air pollution. Outdoor air pollution became a major problem with big urban cities. According to the State of the Air 2013 report by American Lung Association, it found that more than 131.8 million people, that are roughly 42 percent of the nation’s population, live where pollution levels often make breathing a hazardous activity. In addition, the State of Air 2013 Report, indicated that:
Nearly 120 million people live in areas with unhealthful levels of ozone, putting them at risk for premature death, aggravated asthma, difficulty breathing, cardiovascular harm and lower birth weight, the report revealed. The actual number who breathe unhealthy levels of ozone is likely much larger, since this number doesn’t factor people who live in adjacent counties in metropolitan areas where no monitors exist.
Living within in ambient polluted city threatens the lives of many people. Exposure to high levels of air pollution increases sickness rates and can raise mortality risk. Children, the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions are most susceptible to the effects of air pollution. Los Angeles, for instance, is the city that is known of its notorious smog. The city is rifled with air pollutants due to its dense population and dependency on automobiles. Health problems have been attributed to the city’s air pollution. California, as the entire state, is considered...
